What We Learned in the English Premier League – February 27, 2024

Week in Review for the English Premier League

If the English Club season was a metaphorical horse track, this past week would represent the Stretch Turn. Each competitor jockeying for position to set themselves up for the best possible path down the home stretch. It also represents the moment that we, as fans, begin to stand up out of our seats as we try to get a better view of our staked thoroughbred and utter increasingly louder shouts of encouragement as they race into our view and towards the finish line. At this very moment, there is still plenty of race yet to run, but we have an evermore clear picture of what the final sprint will look like and who might get their moment of glory in the victory circle.

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Carabao Cup Champions

We have reached the first official trophy of the season and while many will argue the value or prestige of the competition, the EFL cup has been held for over 60 years and still awards the victor a piece of silverware that can be displayed wherever the winners see fit. This season saw a rematch of the 2022 final between Chelsea and Liverpool but with each club seeing VERY different levels of success this season. Liverpool have found themselves atop the league Table and progressing through 3 different cup competitions with legitimate expectations to win each. Chelsea, on the other hand, have suffered a second consecutive embarrassing league season and are in desperate need of something to hang their hat on after eye watering transfer spends in 3 consecutive windows. 

For those that remember the 2022 EFL and FA Cup finals that featured these two clubs, they will recall two very similar matches that saw neither side find the back of the net in regulation nor extra time and require penalties to decide who went home with the Cup and who left Wembley empty handed. While many (including myself) expected a similar result, when lineups rolled out an hour before kick-off it seemed that an evenly contested match was not in the cards with Liverpool forced to field a depleted lineup and a bench full of academy reserves. If there ever was a chance for Chelsea to secure a trophy and temporarily silence the critics, it would be in this match. 

In an effort to prevent this from growing into an epic, I’ll summarize the 90 minutes as succinctly as I can. Each team certainly had chances to score: both teams actually did score but were called back through the narrowest of margins for offsides. Liverpool were forced to remove Gravenberch following a dubious Challenge from Caciedo early in the first half and replaced him with the only Senior player on the bench, Joe Gomez. Through all of that, Chelsea managed to create the most clear cut opportunities for goals but their old Cup nemesis Coaimhin Kelleher once again held them goalless and forced a 3rd consecutive scoreless draw for these clubs. 

Extra time should have represented an opportunity for Chelsea to take a stranglehold in the match and secure the victory. Liverpool had subbed on academy players James McConnell, Bobby Clark and Jayden Danns for Andrew Robertson, Cody Gakpo and Conor Bradley. Chelsea were subbing on Christopher Nkunku and Myhailo Mudryk. Everything was pointing in their favor and they just needed to put the pressure on for 30 minutes and surely they would find the breakthrough.

While this match mirrored the 2022 Cup final through 90 minutes, extra time brought a new twist. It was a goal, at long last in the 28th minute of extra time from a Liverpool corner off the head of Virgil Van Dijk. It was a trophy winning goal and the cherry on top of an extraordinary performance by Jurgen Klopp’s side. Despite all that he has won at Liverpool, you will be hard pressed to find a trophy that Klopp is more proud of winning given the circumstances and challenges his team faced. It also provides the sort of momentum that can be carried to push on for even more trophies and perhaps the crown jewel of a second Premier League Title.

On the other bench sat Pochettino, sat in despair – maybe bewilderment. How could this golden opportunity slip through Chelsea’s grasp? With the loss, Chelsea moved to 0-6 in Cup Finals held at Wembley. They also have failed to score in 360 consecutive minutes in Domestic Cup finals. While Poch can’t be blamed for the earlier defeats, this one feels more unforgivable. It was against a weakened Liverpool team coming off a midweek league fixture while Chelsea had most of their first choice forwards and midfielders available who were rested all week. Even if they progress through the FA Cup rounds and manage to make it to the final, surely they will face a stronger side than what was available for Liverpool this weekend. 

They currently sit in 10th in the League table and face a second consecutive year without any form of European competition. Throw in the added pressures around transfer expenditures and the dwindling revenues to show for it and there is a lot of valid reason for Chelsea fans to have concern. The Boehly era has been off to an ignominious start to say the least but the next 6 months will be vital in determining if the club can pull out of their current tailspin before it’s too late.    

Title Race Holds Serve

Shifting gears back to the League Calendar, we had 3 matches that could provide separation amongst the clubs at the top of the table. Liverpool was first up with a midweek fixture vs Luton Town who managed to take points off the league leaders in their previous matchup. With Liverpool fielding a similarly weakened side in this one as they led up to the Carabao Cup final, Luton Town managed to strike first and carry a 1-0 lead into halftime. The difference this time was that home field advantage favored Liverpool. The second half was a raucous affair as Anfield roared to life and seemingly willed Klopp’s side forward. Van Dijk opened the scoring and from there, the floodgates were lifted with 3 more unanswered goals following and giving Liverpool a comfortable 4-1 victory in the end. 

Next up was Manchester City with a tricky away fixture vs Bournemouth. Foden got the reigning champions on the scoreboard in the first half but City failed to really threaten from that point forward. Bournemouth was on the front foot for most of the second half and Dominic Solanke came close to equalizing on a few occasions but ultimately Bournemouth never got the break they needed to pull level. It marked the 3rd consecutive League match where City have failed to score more than one goal as Haaland still hasn’t gotten himself back into peak form following his injury layoff. City’s upcoming matches will increase with difficulty leading up to the international break with cross town rivals Manchester United set to visit this weekend before road trips to Liverpool and Brighton that could prove to be incredibly significant when the dust settles at the end of the season. 

Rounding out the weekend for the Title chase was Arsenal as they hosted Newcastle Saturday afternoon. Arsenal’s league form has been the best it’s been all season but they entered this matchup following a disappointing Champions League loss at Porto during the midweek. I wrote last week about my expectation for Arsenal to start to see a dip in form now that their schedule picks up with the return of Champions League and FA Cup matches. Newcastle showed little fight in this one as Arsenal continued their offensive onslaught in the league. The 4-1 Gunners victory also secured a record for Arsenal as they are now the only club in England to have scored 2+ goals in 8 consecutive halves. They’ll have a good chance at continuing the streak next week vs last place Sheffield United. 

Liverpool leave the weekend with not just a Carabao Cup trophy, but a firm grip atop the League Table. Manchester City lurk just 1 point behind and Arsenal follow up in 3rd place just 2 points back. Arsenal have done what they needed to continue to keep pace with the other title challengers and have a soft schedule leading up to the international break. If they can remain perfect through March, they will have their chance at the end of the month to face Manchester City at the Etihad and insert themselves as a legitimate threat to win it all if they knock off the reigning champions in front of their home fans. 

Everton Given Renewed Hope in Relegation Scrap

At the other end of the table, Everton received news that their 10 point penalty for FFP infractions would be reduced to 6 points. This bumped them up to 15the place and a comfortable 5 points ahead of Luton Town. They also managed to earn a point at Brighton which would have been a very positive result all things considered coming into the match. It might be seen now as a bit disappointing given that they had a 1-0 lead and man advantage over Brighton entering stoppage time before conceding a 95’ equalizer that cost them 2 precious points at the final breath. Either way, Everton are now strongly positioned to escape the drop at the end of the season and continue to compete in England’s top league for a 70th consecutive season.

United Streak is Over

We’ll wrap up the week with the end of the Red Devils as they entered the weekend on a 4 game win streak and playing at their highest level all season long. They hosted Fulham who have been the very definition of mediocre this season which should provide Ten Hag’s side an opportunity to further close the gap on the top 5. Yet, as we saw time and time again at the beginning of the season, United failed to find the back of the net despite creating far more opportunities than their opponent. After conceding the opening goal to Fulham midway through the second half, Harry Maguire managed to equalize right before stoppage time in what would have been a bitter consolation point. Fulham had other plans, however, and continued to push before finding a 96th minute winner by way of Alex Iwobi. 

A win would have put United level on points with Tottenham (who’s match vs Chelsea was postponed as the Blues played in the Carabao Cup final) but instead they see their win streak come to a crashing halt and find themselves in a deep hole in their pursuit of Champions League football. Things won’t get easier as they have a trip to the Etihad on deck this weekend where a loss could set them a full 6 points back and an extra game played with just over two months left in the season. It’s now or never for the Red Devils as they approach the home stretch, and they’ll need to make a move soon or else risk being blocked off by the runners in the front of the pack leaving them on the outside looking in when the race is over.  

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